


Flying Wingless

by ficletsandthelike (schulia_jet)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Alternate Universe - Wings, Angst, Bilingual Lance (Voltron), Childhood Memories, Cuban Lance (Voltron), Fluff and Angst, Gen, Lance (Voltron)-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-19
Updated: 2018-06-19
Packaged: 2019-05-25 15:05:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14979716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/schulia_jet/pseuds/ficletsandthelike
Summary: Lance had always wanted to fly, but it was the ocean that claimed him.





	1. Chapter 1

Lance watched the other kids soar outside. Pressing his nose to the glass, he could just see how they giggled, brushing wingtips in a game of tag. He plopped back down into his seat with a sigh, glad that the teacher had let him stay inside for lunch again. The metal casing reflected the afternoon sunlight, casting bright streaks of sun across Lance’s sandwich as he took a bite. The bell rang, prompting him to hastily pack away his lunch and pretend to be reading as his classmates returned.

“Hey, Lance, when are you gonna come out and play?” A boy called to him. His friend elbowed him, shaking his head.

“You know Lance can’t play with us! He’s weird,” another joined in. The second kid nodded.

“Yeah, his mommy and daddy told the pelican wrong, and now he doesn’t have any wings,” he added. The first boy looked at Lance before turning back to his friends. “Whatever,” he mumbled. “It’s not even a pelican, dummy. It’s a stork, right?” They dissolved back into their own conversation, leaving Lance desperately hiding the tears rolling down his cheeks behind his book.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lance stormed past his mother, dashing up the stairs to the bedroom he shared with three of his siblings. He threw his backpack onto his bed and jumped after it, landing face first on his pillow and earning sounds of surprise from the bunk above. 

“Lancey-Lance, is something the matter?” His sister asked, leaning down to peer at him. He only gave a muffled sound of irritation and a thumbs down. Her brow furrowed in concern, matching their mother’s expression as she entered the room.

“Lance, are you being teased at school?” She asked gently, ruffling his hair. Lance rolled over to face her.

“Not really,” he sniffed. “No one’s mean to me on purpose, but…” his lips trembled. “I just wanna fly, Mama!” He gave in to the waterworks, throwing his arms around his mom.

She exchanged a somber glance with her daughter, rubbing Lance’s back as he sobbed into her shoulder. “I know it’s never gonna happen. But why me? Is something wrong with me? Did you really tell the stork you wanted a kid without wings?” he cried.

“It’s hard, mijo, I know, but please hold on. You’re special, you know that?” his mother comforted. “You may not be able to fly with wings, but you can still walk, and read, and play with your siblings. There’s so much more to explore than the sky.” Lance pulled away, mustering a smile. “I’m gonna find a way to explore everywhere, Mama,” he said. “I promise!” She laughed, planting a kiss on his forehead. “I don’t doubt it.”

After dinner, Lance went to play at the beach, as usual. The air swirled with the scent of salt, and he breathed in deeply. None of his siblings, not even little Alejandro, wanted to go that day, so Lance went alone with plenty of swearing to not get into trouble.

He stripped to his trunks, tossing his clothes on a nearby rock to bake in the fading sunlight. Lance sprinted towards the water, feet digging into the sand, but something stopped him.

The water was different. The depths seemed to call him, waves a beckoning finger that lapped against his toes in both an impossibly loud and silent plea. He cautiously waded further, growing bolder as the ocean goaded him on. Lance took a breath and dove, brushing his fingers along the bed of sand until it fell away. He grinned, kicking his legs and letting bubbles stream through his nose.

Small fish wove around Lance, somehow unafraid despite the countless times he had tried and failed to catch one. Lance was able to see straight through the crystal blue, and it took all he had not to swim away from shore, to follow the command echoing around him.

Lance ran out of air and swam towards the surface, shaking his head. He needed to be back before dark, and the last bits of light cast rippling shadows in the water. His head hit something solid, and fear bloomed in his chest.

Lance reached up with both hands. The waves moved above him normally, but a firm resistance met his own and kept him from breaking through. Out of oxygen, Lance banged with all his might, frantically swimming around to find somewhere he could get to air. The fish disappeared, obviously frightened by his flailing limbs, but they paled in comparison to the dark terror gripping Lance’s chest as the corners of his vision began to fade. Weaker, weaker, until Lance let the last of his breath out and closed his eyes in defeat.

Lance gulped.

He was breathing. He was breathing. Underwater.

His eyes flew open, taking in his surroundings. The fish had returned, flicking their fins curiously. He held out a hand, and one slid along his palm almost fondly, scales smooth against Lance’s skin. He noticed the webbing between his fingers and yelped, once again scattering his small friends.

Lance whirled around, straining to take a good look at himself. His teeth, as he could feel, had become pointed, and patches of glittering film rested on his cheekbones, arms, and stomach. His webbed hands led into claws, and as he admired the delicate membrane, more blue flicked past his vision.

A long tail greeted Lance when he looked down in shock. Iridescent scales shimmered in an incredible array of greens and blues, shifting slowly as the tail moved to keep Lance upright. He whipped around, inspecting his new appendage, and laughed. Tentatively tapping the water’s surface, he heard the ocean’s call more clearly. It sang sweetly, sending a pang of sorrow through Lance for how it had trapped him. Lance poked his head into the cool night air, doing his best to give back a message of forgiveness, when he noticed the moon shining overhead.

“Ahh!” He cried, making a beeline for the shore. “No, no, no, Mama’s gonna kill me…” Arcs of light moved along the sand as Lance saw his family looking for him. “Lance!” His mother called. “Lance, please!” He heard her voice crack, and he swam faster.

“MAMA!” He screamed. She turned her flashlight, and, spotting him, waved frantically to the rest of the family. “Lance! Where were you, once you get here I am going to-” she cut off, covering her mouth at the sight of Lance’s tail flashing behind him in the moonlight. Tears gathered and fell. “Mama! Don’t cry!” Lance yelled. “You were right!”

“I’m gonna explore the whole universe!”


	2. Chapter 2

“Lance, I want you to promise me you won’t tell a single soul besides your family.” His mother cupped her hands around his cheeks, wet with ocean spray and tears of relief to finally return home. 

Confusion clouded his features. He opened his mouth after a beat to protest, but her soft hold tightened as she shushed him.

“They’ll try to take you, Lance.” Her hands trembled slightly, sending a shiver of fear up her son’s spine. “When people find something special, something unique and beautiful…” A sob choked its way past her lips, swallowed back hard as Lance whimpered.

“…they destroy it.”

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lance held his mother’s locket up to the light, letting the fluorescent glare bounce off the golden heart and matching chain. Dropping it back into his palm, he opened the well-worn clasp and studied the photos inside, scrutinizing every spot of color as if it wasn’t already embedded deep into his memory. 

The left showed him at around six; he smiled a gap-toothed grin, proudly standing near a sand castle almost as tall as him. That was the first day he had been allowed back to the beach alone, and he spent every minute digging and sculpting until he was satisfied that he had, in fact, made the best sand castle in Cuba. Lance recalled his sunburned cheeks glowing at the praise from his papa and laughed to himself.

The right was the soft features of his mama. She smiled at Lance at he rubbed the picture. She had hugged him tightly, beaming with pride and waving his Garrison acceptance letter in every face she could find, but Lance knew how her enthusiasm faltered when she thought he wasn’t looking. He knew he was leaving her all alone, and still he had packed his bags without hesitation.

The door slid open, jerking Lance back to the present. He blinked away the stinging in his eyes and looked up to see Hunk’s nervous figure filling the doorway.

“Yo, dude, Iverson’s going to have an aneurysm if we’re not by the training area in ten,” The larger boy warned, fussing with his feathers as if the commander was already breathing down his neck. Lance yawned, placing the locket on his pillow before standing lazily.

“Would that really be so bad?” Lance replied. Their shoes clacked against cold metal, filling the brief silence until Pidge materialized from the next hallway over.

“Pidge, my man! What’s going on in that crazy genius brain of yours today?” asked Lance, dropping back to peer at his classmate’s laptop screen. He earned a glare and a pointed shift to block his view; he squashed a pang of hurt and grinned wider. “Any idea what we’re doing today?”

“Whatever it is, you’d better not screw it up like yesterday,” Pidge responded, scowling up at him. 

“Hey, I seem to recall that none of us followed procedure! Besides, wasn’t I the one that saved your butt from snapping at Iverson and earning us all detention?” Lance retorted. Their argument was cut short as they reached the training hall, sliding into the back of the crowd as Commander Iverson began the debriefing.

“Listen up, cadets,” he boomed, causing several students to flinch. “Today will be a break from the regular routine. Hopefully it’ll give some of us a chance to study basic maneuvers while we test out new situations.” He stared at the group, and Lance gulped.

“We’ll be working on our reactions to dangerous circumstances for the next week or so, specifically problem-solving and escape. Today…” Iverson shifted to the side, bringing up a hologram with instructions. “We’ll be simulating an ocean crash.”

Lance felt his stomach drop and bit his cheek, trying to push back the panic rising up his throat. 

“Each trio will fly the aircraft as normal for a random period of time. The engine will fail, and the team will be tested on their ability to resolve the problem before hitting the water or escaping safely before water fully submerges the ship.” A chorus of whispers exploded, and Lance took the opportunity to think.

He couldn’t get out of it by pretending to be sick; everyone was scared to have their wings potentially bogged down by the water, and Iverson would scold him for being weak despite his advantage. Lance ran his fingers through his hair, remembering his mother’s face creased with worry. He couldn’t let them know just how much of an advantage he had, no matter whether or not he failed.

He turned to Pidge and Hunk, who looked almost as terrified. “No matter what, we need to get out of there before hitting the water,” he declared. Even Pidge bobbed his head in agreement, and Iverson yelled over the chatter.

“Team Jenson! You’re up first!”

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Team McClain, you’re up.”

Lance slid on his helmet and stepped into the fake airship, trying to ignore the pit of dread coiled tightly around his middle. He heard the door hiss shut as he plopped down in the pilot’s seat and cracked his knuckles. “Alright, let’s do this,” he said with false confidence.

As the commander had said, everything began smoothly. Hunk prodded at various wires, Pidge double-checked each system, and Lance flicked various switches to keep the craft flying strong. Blue skies stretched endlessly through the screen, emulating the feel of the mid-afternoon flight that Lance had always dreamed of.

A beeping sound came from behind Lance, and he knew the test had begun. “Pidge, scan for overheating and leakage. Hunk, check configurations.” He steered as best he could, guiding them out of various tilts and even a tailspin. After nothing but grunts and silence, he could feel his agitation growing.

“Pidge, status?” He asked, sharper than he meant to. “Nothing’s showing up; it’s got to be something with the wiring, but Gutbuster over there’s too busy trying not to lose his lunch,” the boy snapped back, adjusting his glasses and returning to furious typing.

“Hunk, come on buddy! Worry about food later and get on that engine fixing! We’re kind of getting close to the water, you know…” Lance called, clenching the wheel harder as the ocean came into view. “I’m- trying but-” A disgusting belch caused Lance to roll his eyes. “Okay, okay, this is fine, just give me a minute,” Hunk replied. 

“Altitude: way too close,” Pidge said, tapping at the alarms that had started to screech in the cabin. “Yeah, real helpful!” Lance barked. A sizzling sound came from Hunk’s corner, followed by a “got it!” The alarms faded, and Lance sent the ship back up into the air. The sky faded to black, replaced by glowing green text and a robotic voice announcing “MISSION PASSED.”

They stumbled out to the deck, awaiting Iverson’s comments. The commander loomed over them, sending shivers down Lance’s spine despite the relief at their success. “Team McClain was able to fix the engine and maintain acceptable altitude. Can someone tell me, however, why that was nothing but luck?” Lance felt Hunk stiffen beside him, and Pidge muttered an angry “what?” under his breath.

“They yelled at each other instead of working as a team.”

“They did their own jobs, but didn’t help each other at all.”

“The engineer puked.” 

Iverson swept his gaze over the trio before facing the class. “Exactly. Even competency in your own job will never make up for lack of teamwork in a real flight.” He turned to Lance, who felt a bead of sweat drip down his face. “You may be improving as a pilot, McClain, but your pride and sour attitude are going to leave you in the dust, just like Kogane.” Lance bristled at the mention of his old rival, but Iverson had already moved on to the next team.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After the bell had rung, Lance sped straight back to his room, not even stopping to admire ladies in the dining hall. His skin longed to be under the cool touch of water; after the unfulfilled promise of ocean from class, every molecule in his body clawed against his rigid decision to hide his needs. Opening the bathroom door, he wrenched the shower handle and dipped into the tub, sighing heavily as the water stung his toes in a cold welcome. 

Filling the tub to the brim, Lance shut off the faucet and rinsed his face gently, letting the scales peek out along his cheekbone. His tail glittered underneath the surface, free yet still cramped in its porcelain trap. He let his back rest against the wall, closing his eyes.

“You may be improving as a pilot, McClain, but your pride and sour attitude are going to leave you in the dust.”

“Just like Kogane.”

“I’ll never be like Mullet,” Lance mumbled to himself. “I’ll never be hotheaded, or think I can do whatever I want because I’m the best thing since sliced bread. I’ll never get to fly away because my idol disappeared in space. I’m not some weird ninja pilot. I’m just the goofball cargo pilot.”

“I’m just the screwup.”


	3. Chapter 3

“Any updates down there?” Shiro asked over the comms. Lance brushed aside some leaves and scanned the undergrowth, watching for the green light of verification on his screen.

“That’s a negative, captain,” he sighed, letting the plants spring back into place. “Allura, are you sure that the flower thing you’re looking for is here? I could have sworn something is following Keith and I, and I’m not too thrilled about dying over some plant.”

“Yes, I’m quite sure, Lance.” Allura’s exasperated voice sounded in his helmet. “If Hunk is to make a dish that will please the Ulzoans, we need to find it, and they specifically said to look on this planet.” 

Keith sliced through a few branches ahead. “If you’re bored, you can always head back and let me go it alone.” Turning back for a moment, he let a competitive edge slide into his tone and added, “It’s not like you’ll be able to find it before me anyways.”

Lance huffed indignantly, speeding up to pass Keith. “No way! Just watch, I’m going to get way more than we need and leave you in the-” He had to take a step back, closing his mouth to keep from inhaling a cloud of dirt as Keith shot into the sky. “…dust,” Lance muttered.

He kept wading through the thick foliage, sweeping his gaze back and forth for a sign of the flower. “Purple, four petals, purple, four petals…” he mumbled, frustration growing as red “LIFEFORM UNDETECTED” scrolled continuously in the corner of his screen.

“What’s so special about the Graego-whatcha-ma-call-it anyway?” Lance said to the air. He hopped over what appeared to be a root. “Hunk could probably figure out something even better. Now I’m stuck here with Mullet, who’s probably miles away getting a bunch of it while I’m slaving away for nothing on the ground because Pidge had to ‘stay and finish coding,’ even though everything is working perfectly and doesn’t need-” A yell of pain echoed from across the forest, and Lance felt a spike of fear shoot up his spine.

“Keith? Keith!” he called, running towards the source of the noise. Another yell, louder and more agonized, turned Lance’s run to a sprint. “KEITH!” he screamed. He skidded to a halt at the edge of a cliff, staring in horror as a few pebbles hurtled close to a hundred feet down to the scene below him.

Murky waves slammed against the bottom of the rock face, stirred by a massive worm-like creature covered in mud. It roared, six legs flailing in the water while four more clutched tightly to a bloodied wing. Keith thrashed, but Lance could see his struggles growing weaker as the water soaked his wings, red swirling outwards. Terror gripped Lance’s heart; he couldn’t do damage with his gun from this far away, and trying to slide down would be almost guaranteed death. He realized what he had to do.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Hey, Mama, look!” Lance shouted. His mother glanced up, then did a double take as he grinned a gap-toothed smile from the high dive.

“Get down from there! You’re going to hurt yourself!” He wavered for a moment, then clenched his fists in resolve.

“Alejandro did it, and I can too! I’m not a baby, Mama,” he retorted. Before she could reply, he jumped. His feet hit the water, and he came up spluttering, hastily climbing onto the concrete. He examined the bottoms of his feet, stinging and tinged pink from the impact.

“I told you,” his mother scolded. He looked up at her and smiled again.

“But it was cool, right?”

She huffed, but Lance could see the twinkle of amusement in her eyes. 

“Not nearly as cool as Alejandro.”

“Just wait until we go back home and I can jump into real water! Alejandro can’t have shiny scales, and sharp teeth and…”

She burst out laughing, and Lance felt himself laugh too.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lance hit the water, and for a moment, everything went dark. He forced himself to stay awake, shaking his head and waiting until the fuzzy feeling left his head. He tried to focus on saving Keith, but his entire body felt as if it shed a layer of skin, both in a good and bad way. Angry welts covered his feet, but they quickly shifted and merged, leaving only a stinging in his tail. At his newfound freedom, it was everything Lance could do not to speed away into the depths, stretching and feeling the cool water for the first time in months.

Bubbles floated in front of Lance’s nose, and he raced up to the surface, throwing off his helmet for a clearer view. Head breaking water, he had to dart sideways to avoid impalement by a flying leg.

“Hey, Wormy! Mind letting go of my friend here?” he called. The monster faced him and screeched, releasing Keith to pursue its new foe. Its mouth gaped, revealing rows of teeth that began closing upon Lance. He raised his bayard.

Goo splattered everywhere as the lasers pierced the worm’s body, and Lance made a mental note to take a very thorough bath later. At a faint groan, he whipped around the carcass and found Keith barely staying afloat. “Easy, buddy, I got you,” Lance said, gently placing an arm under Keith’s and making his way to the far shore. Keith drooped, finally falling unconscious, and Lance breathed a sigh of relief. Heaving them both onto the sand, Lance removed Keith’s helmet and heard frantic shouting from inside.

“Keith?! Where are you?! Hey, are you okay?! Keith!” Shiro panicked. “We had a run-in with some weird worm creature,” Lance rasped. “We’re both stable for now, but Keith’s wing is hurt pretty bad, and he might have water in his lungs.” He heard a sharp inhale, and Allura spoke. “Lance? We’re coming to pick you both up. Stay there so we can track your location.” The comms flicked off, and Lance became acutely aware of a pair of violet eyes staring at him in shock.

“Hey, you doing okay?” Lance asked. “Your wing is going to be fine, once we get you in the pod, you know.”

Keith swallowed visibly, choking out, “Yeah. That’s not really what I’m worried about.” His gaze trailed downwards, and Lance suddenly felt his stomach plummet. His tail glimmered under the weak sun. “It’s, uh, I’m…” Dried from the sand, it began shifting back into legs while Keith watched, dumbfounded.

“…I’m kind of going to need some pants.”


	4. Chapter 4

“C’mon, what is it?” Anton scooted closer, grabbing Lance’s shoulder in desperation. “Best friends tell each other everything! I told you about that time I peed my pants in front of the entire class, and you’re not going to tell me your secret?”

Lance bit his lip. “It’s bigger than that, Anton. It’s… something I’ve had since I was little.” At the other boy’s frantic nodding, he sighed and finally relented. “Okay, I’ll tell you. But you need to promise that no matter what, you won’t tell a single person. Not even your parents.” Anton gave a solemn salute, but Lance could see the sparkle of excitement in his eyes.

“Yessir! Not a soul!”

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As soon as he stepped out of his lion, Lance was surrounded by his team in various states of confusion.

“You can do what?!”

“When did this start? Was it from a planet we visited?”

“Why didn’t you say anything?!”

“Enough!” Lance shouted. They fell silent, and Lance stared at the ground for a moment, gathering his wits. Keith must have debriefed them on the flight back; Lance had shut off his comms for fear of questioning, but it seemed it was too late to worry about that now.

“I’ve been able to do it since I was really young, okay? It’s not a big deal,” Lance finally said. Keith was the first to step forward, throwing up his hands in irritation.

“It’s a huge deal! What if this was a water focused mission? Being able to turn into a quiznacking mermaid might be helpful to know!”

Shiro put a calming hand on Keith’s shoulder, shifting his gaze to Lance.

“He’s right. This is something that you should have told the team a long time ago. Did you think we couldn’t be trusted with this?” he asked warily. Lance immediately snapped up his head. “No, that’s not… I mean, I was going to, but-” he scrambled to find words, heart sinking at the hurt expressions on his teammate’s faces. Lance took a deep breath and started again.

“I trust you guys, but… I’ve trusted before, and it didn’t exactly end well.”

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lance didn’t think too much of the stares; he was wingless, after all, and most people didn’t mean any harm. He began to feel odd, however, when he arrived at school to dozens of pairs of eyes trained on him. Whispers couldn’t quite reach his ears, and when he walked into first period, the room dropped into silence. Anton walked over to him slowly.

“Dude, you know how Katie is. She gets dirt out of everybody, and I thought ‘she’s my girlfriend, she knows how important this is,’ and it’s just so cool!”

“You told her.” Lance spoke so quietly that he could barely hear himself. Guilt etched itself across Anton’s face, and the floor seemed to drop out from underneath Lance’s feet. “She told everyone.”

“No way, she swears she only told Monica,” Anton tried. An announcement crackled over the intercom, cutting off Lance’s reply.

“Lance McClain, please report to the principal’s office.”

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“You know we would never think any less of you, Lance,” Shiro began. 

“I know. I know, and I knew that before, but that doesn’t make it any easier to try and say something when the person you thought you could trust, your closest friend, tells everyone and forces you to move countries so the government doesn’t rip your family apart just because you’re different-” he didn’t realize he was crying until a tear dripped into the corner of his mouth. The small burst of salt only broke his resolve further, and a sob ripped from his throat.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Lance, pack your suitcase. Quickly, now,” his mother said, rushing past his doorway with an armful of clothing. “What? Where are we going?” Lance asked. “America,” was the reply. He stood up sharply and followed her down the hall. “America?! Are you serious? Why?” She whirled around, and Lance was taken aback at the fury and terror swirling in her eyes.

“Because we are the fish, Lance. We are the fish, and if we don’t swim, the net will catch us.” His little sister tugged on his pant leg.

“Lance, what’s Mama talking about?” she questioned. “Nothing, nothing. Go put all your clothes in your suitcase, okay? It’s a surprise,” he soothed, shooing her back to her room. He placed a hand on the wall to steady himself.

“Stay strong and swim.”

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He collapsed without protest into Hunk’s hug. “I left them, right when I was almost home,” Lance cried into his shoulder. “It’s my fault we left, and now it’s my fault they have a missing son with no way to know if I’m even alive.”

Pidge was the first to join the hug, followed by Coran, then Shiro, until Lance was surrounded by his team.

“I…” he hiccuped. “I just didn’t want to be the reason another family was ashamed.” 

“We’ve met aliens literally made out of rock, and you think we would think less of you for having a tail sometimes?” Keith said. 

“We’re space family, dude,” Hunk added. “As in, travel-all-over-the-universe-fighting-for-equality-of-all-species space family. Heck, Keith’s half Galra, and it didn’t take long for us to realize how okay that is.”

“Your family will be waiting when this war is over, Lance. From what you’ve said about them, I would guess that they were never ashamed by you. You held together through each difficult time, and now we will be here to help you do it again,” Allura said. Breaking the huddle, Lance turned to her with shining eyes. “Thank you, really.” He glanced down and nearly laughed out loud.

“Seriously, though. Before all this bonding stuff, could I change out of Keith’s extra undersuit? It smells like it hasn’t seen the light of day for ten thousand years.”

“I’d take a gander it hasn’t,” Coran offered helpfully. 

“Only if it’s to change into swimming trunks. There’s no way I’m not seeing this for myself; imagine if we could create special armor for your tail! Though it would have to be flexible, and have more water-resistance… Oh! The rest of your armor will need that too, right?” Pidge excitedly began tapping away on her laptop, and Hunk soon ambled over and joined her furious muttering.

Shiro walked up to Lance, who turned to see his face creased with concern. “Lance, we didn’t think less of you before, and we won’t now,” Shiro said. “I know, Shiro, I know,” Lance returned. “We’ve all got each other’s backs. There’s no way I won’t be flying home as soon as Zarkon’s six feet under, but for now, I’ve got a family right here.” He stretched and headed for the control room door.

“Let’s head to the next planet. The universe won’t explore itself!”


End file.
